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Masked Owl

Location and Habitat
Very similar in appearance to a Barn Owl, it occurs nowhere more than 300 kilometers from the coast.
They are not very common except in Tasmania.
It is larger and more solid than the Barn Owl and its face mask is more "rounded"
Habitat forests, woodlands, farmlands with large trees, caves.

Activities
Secretive, relatively silent and strictly nocturnal, Very hard to see in the wild.

Feeding
The Masked Owl at night feeds mainly on small mammals up to about the size of a rabbit,
but may also fed on small birds or reptiles.

Nesting & Breeding
Seems to mate for life
Nesting may occur at any time. The male prepares the nest in a tree hollow with decaying debris. The same tree hollow sometimes becomes the permanent site for breeding.
The female incubates the 2-3 eggs, which hatch in just over a month. The Female is provided for by the male until the young "Fledge" roughly after 2 1/2 months

Powerful Owl

Location and Habitat
The Powerful Owl is confined to south-eastern Australia (except Tasmania) from the vicinity of Gladstone in Queensland to the Otway Ranges in Victoria.
slopes of the Great Dividing Range
It habitat tall open forests.

Description
It is a large owl with large golden eyes in a short, broad head.
Its voice is a slow, deep, resonant double-hoot which occasionally is single.

Activities
Slow deliberate flight on huge wings, it relies on its long tail feathers for manouravibility in flight.
It lives in pairs (apparently mated for life) that occupy permanent territories
Hunts at night and roosts in leafy trees during daylight,

Feeding
At night it preys on birds and mammals such as possums, gliders, flying foxes, and birds.
It uses vision rather than sound for hunting.
Prey is torn apart by its very sharp beak and claws, the head usually being eaten first; the rest often being kept to be eaten later at roost during the day

Nesting & Breeding
May to October. The nest is a bed of wood debris and dead leaves in a tree hollow, usually a high eucalypt prepared by the male. The female normally lay 2 eggs which take 5 weeks to hatch.
The Female and the young are provided for by the male until the young "Fledge" after about 60 odd days

Rufous Owl

Location and Habitat
In Australia this elusive and secretive owl is found in the Kimberley and the Top End, and in north-eastern Queensland usually in closed forests, such as rainforests alongside creeks

Description
This owl has a flat broad crown, its Eyes are greenish-yellow eyes in a faint facial mask.
Its body is very closely barred (striped sort off)
Voice deep double-hoot; second note shorter

Activities
It roosts by day in dense cover.

Feeding
At night it preys upon birds, mammals (possums Gliders etc),
frogs and large insects as well as large birds such as brush turkeys, kookaburra and Cockatoos

Nesting & Breeding
The breeding season extends from June to November. The nest is in a large, high tree cavity,
carpeted with dead leaves and wood debris, and used repeatedly. The usual clutch consists of two eggs,(white & glossy) which hatch in about 37 days. Only the female incubates.

Sooty & Lesser Sooty Owl

Location and Habitat
The Sooty Owl occurs in 2 separate areas
1) Along the East coast of Southern Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria
2) In the Cairns-Atherton tablelands region of coastal north- Queensland; (Lesser Sooty Owl)
Habitat closed and tall open forests, especially gullies

Activities
Active in canopy of trees this owl apparently mates for life and maintains permanent territories

Feeding
It tends to hunt from perches rather than from flight, waiting quietly at the edge of clearings and periodically flying out to pounce on prey on or near the ground. Flexible in diet, it eats small mammals possums, gliders, rats, roosting birds, frogs, rabbits, small reptiles

Nesting & Breeding
The nest is in a large, high tree hollow, and usually 2 eggs are laid (usually about 4 days apart). The incubation period is about 42 days and the young fledge at about 80 to 85 days. Only the female incubates fed by her mate at the nest.

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